"What's so funny? What are you laughing at in a matter of this importance?" Greenberg asked while cross-examining Trooper David Jimenez on Thursday. The trooper assisted in the arrest of Almontaser, who was stopped in a 2006 Infiniti on the Thruway in Coeymans on June 20, 2013.

"Tell us what's so funny?" Greenberg asked.

Jimenez replied: "You want to know the truth?"

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"I want to know what's so funny," Greenberg pressed.

"Your hair," the trooper answered.

"My hair?" Greenberg asked.

"Yes sir," the trooper replied.

"Thanks for the compliment. You're not a hairstylist, are you?" Greenberg asked.

"No," Jimenez answered.

At this point it is worth mentioning that Jimenez does not exactly possess a whole head of locks himself — a fact Greenberg seized upon.

"By the way, you don't have any hair problem, do you?" the lawyer asked.

"That's correct," Jimenez replied.

Judge Peter Lynch quickly cut in, "Let's see if we can get back on track to a relevant line of questioning."

Here at Law Beat, we will not judge anyone's hair. We will tell you that some courtroom observers likened Greenberg's hairdo to that of KISS rocker Gene Simmons (circa 2014). Others likened it to the memorable hair displayed by Christopher Lloyd as inventor Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the "Back to the Future" movies.

Greenberg told Law Beat he is not offended by jokes about his hair.

"Not at all. It's funny," he said. "I laugh at it. But don't sell yourself as a professional and then take a cheap shot ... if (Jimenez) said to me outside, 'What's with the hair?' It wouldn't bother me in the least."

Greenberg said he typically pokes fun at his hair at every trial.

"Right before I end my closing argument, I say, 'Not only have we managed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is innocent, I've also managed to prove that every day is a bad hair day for me.' "

He skipped that trademark line in the Almontaser case.

"When he used it as a cheap shot, I couldn't use it for a joke because I use that line to gauge the temperature at that very late time frame in a trial," Greenberg said. "There are no accidents in this business."

Did the trooper's mockery of Greenberg hurt the prosecution's case?

The jury hung on a marijuana case that many believed was a fairly strong case — he allegedly possessed the marijuana in vacuum-sealed bags. Almontaser will be retried by Albany County David Soares' office in December.

Prosecutors did convict him of speeding, driving without a license and criminal impersonation for giving a fake name to the trooper.

For now, that will have to 'do.

Media and jurors

At every jury trial, judges take pains to ensure jurors are not reading media accounts about their case.

In the age of social media, those efforts have only intensified.

And that's nothing new to Albany attorney Michael Feit, a lawyer for more than 40 years.

Still, Feit devoted considerable time in Albany County Court on Tuesday morning to gripe to visiting Judge Andrew Ceresia about pretrial publicity in the murder trial of Pablo Cruz.

Feit asked for a mistrial. He also wanted the judge to ask jurors if they had read any Times Union news accounts, even though he acknowledged "I know that the court has admonished the jury."

Ceresia denied both requests, saying Feit's complaint was based on "sheer speculation." The judge said it would be improper for him to make a special inquiry to the jury about specific news coverage, saying it could unnecessarily draw the jury's attention toward the news.

Feit still was not done — he continued to speak about the news coverage.

If this sounds familiar, Feit has made similar complaints and requests to judges about media reports.

He made a similar request to Ceresia during the murder trial of Trinity Copeland and was rejected.

At one point Tuesday, Feit told Ceresia he believes it is "unfair to have some account of what allegedly happened" that he believes is inaccurate.

What made Tuesday's complaint interesting was that Feit lodged it after the judge, only seconds earlier, permitted the press to film opening statements.